The backers of a Wild Rivers water park location in Orange County have shifted their sights from a 17-acre spot near the Great Park to, again, a spot anywhere inside it.

Mike Riedel, president of Wild Rivers, which was open for 27 years in Irvine off I-405 before it closed in 2011, said he recently sent a letter of interest to the city inquiring about the availability of Great Park land.

Three years ago, Riedel had approached Great Park officials but was told to ask the county about its land just south of the park since development there might move at a quicker pace.

He had brokered a deal with the county that gave him exclusive rights to 17 of 100 acres of county land, but when the first $3 million installment of rent came due last year, he couldn’t muster the finances and the agreement was terminated.

With what he described as solid financing now, he returned to the county but was told by staff and a supervisor that a water park no longer fit into their plan for the 100 acres. The county encouraged him to reach out to the Great Park again.

In the past three years, though, much has changed at the Great Park. The city agreed to let developer FivePoint Communities build out 688 acres with a sports park, golf course and trails, leaving a few hundred acres undeveloped. The city also recently agreed to offer up 100 acres to the state to build a veterans cemetery. Plus, the Great Park’s operations have now been folded into the city of Irvine’s.

Riedel cautions that he’s still at the “if” stage, noting that he hasn’t actually spoken to anyone with the city or the Great Park about the prospect of locating his water park there.

“It certainly makes sense,” he said. “I could kick a soccer ball from the county property to the city property.”

He says he has a term-sheet from his lender written up for an Orange County water park project; now he needs the land. “They love the Great Park site,” Riedel said, adding that if a water park were to be approved there, he wouldn’t look at opening it any sooner than summer 2016, a timeline he said his lender is OK with, too.

Two month ago, Kirin Hopkins International joined Riedel’s team, bringing his project important financing and credibility, he said. Backers of the company are primarily Chinese investors.

Riedel said the company wants to build multiple water parks.

Riedel and his business partners are moving forward with a water park plan in Temecula in southwest Riverside County. Last month, the City Council there approved an exclusive negotiating agreement with the water park backers to come to terms on 20 acres of land, according to a story in The Press-Enterprise. Riedel first attempted to build a park there in 2012 but financing fell through.

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